Dr. Stanley Kurek
Chippenham Hospital's trauma medical director explains the trauma program.
HCA Virginia’s Chippenham Hospital is a Level I trauma center, which means it provides the highest level of trauma care that a patient can receive. The Level I certification allows Chippenham to care for all patients in the Richmond area, no matter how severe their illness is, without transfer, including limb reattachment.
Dr. Stanley Kurek has been the medical director over trauma for almost three years and is responsible for the entire program, including EMS relations, hiring surgeons and staff, and setting up all of the policies that guide trauma care at the hospital. Another big role is ensuring Chippenham is compliant with rules and regulations from the state and the American College of Surgeons.
“EMS teams are basically our lifeline,” Kurek said. “They’re our customers. We work collaboratively to come up with standards of care and guidelines.”
When an accident happens, oftentimes an EMS team is responsible for bringing patients to the hospital. Both parties share feedback on a monthly basis to make sure patients receive a high level of care.
“I’m happy to say that in my 2.5 years at Chippenham, our trauma volume has doubled,” he said. “We were 1,500 trauma activations a year and now we’re over 3,300, and I think it’s because of the relationships we’ve built with Chesterfield and Richmond Ambulance.”
Additionally, HCA Virginia’s medical helicopter has expanded reach into rural areas and toward the western part of Virginia. And, Chippenham’s burn program brings a lot of patients in from around the state.
“We see 90% blunt injuries from motorcycles, falls, and car wrecks,” Kurek said. In addition to providing care, the hospital also does a lot of outreach programs and education to help prevent the elderly from falling. The hospital is also unique in that no other center in the state has a trauma nurse-lead program, which means that seasoned nurses are always on-site who lead trauma care through the ER and help educate the younger nurses.
“We have a lot of great people here. It’s a standard of care in 2022 that I don’t think other centers are doing.”